My brush with the bush fires raging in the hills came in the form of ash falling in the pool.

The Japanese girls came over on Sunday and the boyfriend had gone over to his friend’s place, to meet the newest member of the friend’s family. (His wife gave birth to a healthy baby boy).

It was just the girls and I. They were being their chatty selves. Diving in the pool, lounging around and simply having fun. It was about 2 in the afternoon when it started raining ash.

We decided to get out of the pool then. When we took a walk later by the river, there was a thick column of grey cloud in the sky and a dry smoky scent in the air. There were plenty of dead jellyfish carcasses being washed onto the river banks. I think the girls were slightly sickened by the sight and wanted to leave quickly.

The next day, when the boyfriend went to take a swim in the pool, he noticed all the black ash collecting at the bottom and asked me if the girls had dirtied pool. I could not help but laugh at the irony of it all. They would be the last people I know who would conceive of dirtying the pool.